Proof on TNT

· Be certain to watch the new television series "Proof" on Tuesday nights, 10 pm, on TNT. This well-acted and very good series explores near-death experiences, out-of-body experiences, and the paranormal. There have been other television shows that have attempted to do this, but none of them had a good premise and storyline to work from nor did they have top notch actors. This one does.

· Subscribe to my free monthly newsletter. Just go to .pmhatwater.como, scroll over to Newsletter, and sign up. There is an archive of past issues. Believe me, you will want to read some of those past issues, especially a year or so ago when the topic of the entire piece was electrical sensitivity and storms. In the month of May this year I tackled DNA and how that can be changed or altered in just one generation, and be passed on to the next. Encourage your friends to subscribe, too. Publishers, believe it or not, are impressed when an author has a large number of people taking their newsletters. Doesn't seem like it should be that way, but it is. SUBSCRIBE TODAY !

Ken Ring NDE Research Project & OBE Article

***​Ken Ring is back again, with a new research project. He has joined up with Cheryl Fracasso, Ph.D. (Saybrook University) and Harris Friedman, Ph.D. (University of Florida) - Ken is affiliated with University of Connecticut - to tackle the anomalous aftereffect of near-death states - electrical sensitivity. The invitation:

​“We would like to invite you to participate in a study dealing with some of the physical aftereffects and sensitivities of near-death experiences. This research simply involves completing some questionnaires and possibly a follow-up interview over the telephone. If you would be interested in participating, please click on the link below, which will take you directly to the survey site:

​www.surveymonkey.com/s/69QP5CM

​“Should you have any questions, please e-mail us at NDEresearch@hotmail.com or info@near-deathexperienceresearch.com

​This is a very important study. Please participate!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks.

***​There is a wonderful article on near-death, entitled “Near death, explained: New Science is shedding light on what really happens during out-of-body experiences -- with shocking results.” This article is by Dr. Mario Beauregard, and can be found at:

www.salon.com/2012/04/21/near_death_explained/singleton

Dr. Beauregard did not go far enough for me, but he did establish research details that any skeptic will find difficult to counter. His article was excerpted from the HarperOne book: The Brain Wars: The Scientific Battle Over the Existence of the Mind and the Proof That Will Change the Way We Live Our Lives. New cases and new research are proving that the scientific understandings we have at present about the brain/mind are false.

***​The Internet is really buzzing about claims of a former Buddhist Monk in Myanmar that, during his near-death experience in July of 2011, he saw Buddha in Hell. I do not know the details of this case, but I do think that it is wise to know something about the experiencer’s life before, what caused the episode, and something of his or her culture, language constraints, and before-and-after belief system. It could be that Buddha’s appearance to this man could have been comforting - showing him that even in the most negative conditions, help is there. Or it could have been a warning to him about how he practiced his religion and under what conditions. We cannot jump to conclusions with near-death states. The more we know about conditions, the better able we are to grapple with possible meanings.

 

A Reply to Scientific American

On September 12th, Scientific American Magazine carried an article by Charles Q. Choi, entitled “Peace of Mind: Near-Death Experiences Now Found to Have Scientific Explanations by New Research on Abnormal Functioning of Dopamine and Oxygen Flow.” I would like to reply to Choi’s assertions.

Scientific explanations for some of the common aspects of near-death states have relevance, but not as causal to the phenomenon. In keeping with Choi’s assertions, let’s discuss what he mentioned.

There has been no recent survey of experiencer percentages done by the Gallup Poll, but research in the field of near-death studies now estimates that between 4 to 5% of the general population worldwide has had a near-death experience. In crisis and hospital settings, the number hovers between 12 to 21%. Not all experiencers who undergo the phenomenon are actually at the edge of death or are clinically considered dead, although some revive in the morgue, even hours later. There are near-death-like experiencers: those who thought they were going to die but didn’t (a fear death), those who it seemed as if they would die but revived, those who were in a crisis situation but were never harmed, and those who were in good health and had no reason to suddenly experience the phenomenon.

Most of the biological “explanations” for various aspects of the scenario itself have been overturned in clinical studies. Extensive work to this end has been done. To examine these studies and their authors, access the website of the International Association for Near-Death Studies, (IANDS) at www.iands.org, and by referring to the peer-reviewed Journal of Near-Death Studies.

The idea of a “walking corpse” (a delusional belief that one has died) does not apply, even remotely. Only a few experiencers ever thought they were dead. Most had no idea they had died and frankly rejected any such notion. It was only after they were resuscitated or revived, that medical personnel or relatives indicated that vital signs had been lost and that the individual had either been near death or had actually died, much to the experiencer’s surprise.

The notion of the out-of-body component to near-death states is indeed common, most child and adult experiencers speak of it. There is no sense of paralysis. In fact, during episodes like this, the individual has the sense of full movement with vivid, often startling scenes observed, and with details the experiencer could never have known or been able to see. Most of these, at least those I am familiar with, have been verified by third-party testimonials afterward. The experiment conducted August 24, 2007, written up in an article entitled “Out-of-Body Experiences are All in the Brain” and published by Science Journal, described a lab experiment where the illusion of being in a virtual body outside one’s own was created by disturbing the visual input of volunteers wearing virtual-reality goggles connected to video cameras. What these experimenters produced was the “doppelganger” affect and not a real out-of-body experience. The making of “phantom” bodies is a regular part of shamanistic practice, both in ritual work and to increase the spread of information coming to them through the phantom (about their environment). This image supposedly confuses enemies or “signals” that a shaman is present. Superficial at best, doppelgangers have no relation to genuine out-of-body states or to near-death experiences.

A variety of explanations were given for seeing the deceased in a near-death experience, especially as related to what may cause patients who have Parkinson’s disease to report visions of ghosts - that may apply to what causes near-death experiencers to do the same thing. No attempt by the author was made, however, to explain how, during a near-death episode, one can be met by a deceased friend or relative, revive, laugh at what just occurred as that person was known to be quite alive and healthy; and then, upon later investigation, find out that the individual in question did indeed die at time and in the manner revealed. Again and again, the deceased recount information, stories, details that the individual could not have possibly known, that later check out as accurate. This happens so often, it is considered a “signature feature” of a near-death state.

The euphoria experienced in near-death states seems to mirror what can be gleaned through drug highs, ketamine experiences, and even through taking DMT in supervised trials. Yet in case after case when an individual who took drugs compared the highs once obtained with drugs to the euphoria of a near-death state, their reply in essence said “no contest.” What they felt during a near-death state could not be compared to any other experience. In my book, Beyond the Light (Avon Books, NYC, 1994 - in both Chapter 4 and on page 128), I discuss the case of Steven B. Ridenhour who spent 20 years trying to re-create his near-death episode through drug use, and was unsuccessful. His is not the only such case. Adult experiencers sometimes describe the experience as “more powerful than a million suns.”

As concerns the infamous “tunnel” effect, this is more myth than reality. Not that many people report tunnels, and never did. In the Gallup Poll survey conducted in 1982 about people who may have had a near-death experience, only 9% even mentioned a tunnel. It was not until the media sensationalized Raymond Moody’s first book Life after Life (Mockingbird Books, Covington, GA 1975) that reports of tunnels became more comonplace. Were people lying? No, I don’t think so. These experiences are ineffable. How do you describe something you do not have language for? For those who encountered darkness and lights, all of a sudden there was now a word they could use and that word was “tunnels.” Whether I’m right about that or not, the fact is only a few report or describe tunnels. Certainly not enough to account for the exaggerated claim by scientists that oxygen flow explains tunnels which explains near-death states. Not hardly. Yes, the “classical model” of near-death states still includes the tunnel feature as a basic component of scenarios, yet it is only one of many aspects that can occur during the phenomenon. In this regard, I suggest to you that the classical model isn’t always that classical.

Near-death states as a self-fulfilling prophecy about life after death? The public does indeed listen carefully to these stories with the hope that they might illustrate what happens after we die. A check of the various religions and clerics shows that each will endorse only those episodes that apply to their own belief system or dogma, rejecting anything that varies. It’s as if only the “proof” they want to hear is declared “genuine.” If you really study these accounts as I have, you begin to notice that “across the board,” the near-death phenomenon faithfully reveals the core wisdom common to all spiritual and religious traditions - as if these traditions may have sprung from the telling of such stories farther back in time than can be recounted. No research can be certain. What we know is that the phenomenon puts names and faces on life’s “mysteries” in ways no dogma or tradition can.

What is glaringly missing from the article by Charles Q. Choi is the fact that the scientific community he speaks for, investigates only in piece meal fashion some of the various aspects of near-death states without viewing the phenomenon as a whole, and completely devoid of the pattern of physiological and psychological aftereffects which follow. No skeptic that I know of, and none of the scientists Choi uses as references, has ever done a full study of all aspects of the experience and its aftereffects and in numbers acceptable as a valid study. I am quite certain that Choi would lose no time trying to invalid my voice. However, 33 years of mostly fieldwork with nearly 4,000 adult and child experiencers and their significant others, gives me at least a unique lens in which to observe, cross-compare, and analyze.
If the scientific community wants to make a point and inform the public in a credible fashion, I suggest that they know more about their subject before they try to explain it away.

Thank you, P. M. H. Atwater, L.H.D., author of
10 books on near-death findings, among them
The Big Book of Near-Death Experiences and
Near-Death Experiences: The Rest of The Story.

Possible TV Series about NDEs

IANDS (International Association for Near Death Studies) is cooperating with a television production company on a possible TV series about near-death experiences and their impact on people's lives. We are inviting experiencers to consider participating.

The producers are interested in the following types of experience:

• NDE
• Near-death-like experiences
• Shared near-death experiences
• Distressing near-death experiences
• Out-of-body experiences (without other elements of an NDE)
• Tunnel experiences
• Angel experiences
• Light beings experiences
• Light experiences (without other elements of an NDE)
• Life review experiences
• Meetings with dead relatives
• After-death communication
• Apparitions

If you have had an experience like any of these--especially if your life has been strongly affected by it--and would like to have it considered as the basis for an episode, please let IANDS know (see below).

This is a preliminary request for experiences, as there is no guarantee that the series will be picked up for broadcast. Your willingness to participate does not ensure that your experience will be included, as we cannot guarantee that it will be selected. The producers, not IANDS, will select the accounts they wish to use. If your experience is selected, there is no guarantee that you will appear on camera.

We will review all experience accounts that come to the office. Someone will notify you if the TV producer wants to talk with you. Please DO NOT call the IANDS office to check on your status. If the producer wants to talk with you, you will be notified; if you do not receive a message that the producer wants to talk with you, the producer has decided not to use your experience.

We will post an announcement on the IANDS website when we know whether the series has been picked up for broadcast.

Here's how to send your experience for consideration:

Send us an email or letter, including these four things:

• your name, address, phone number, and email address if you have one
• a full description of your experience and its impact on your life
• a statement that you agree to having your experience considered for a TV show
• a statement that you agree not to submit your experience to any other TV show unless it is not selected by these producers

If you are using email, send to office@iands.org. If you use regular mail, send the letter to IANDS, 2741 Campus Walk Ave, Durham, NC 27705-8878, USA. Be sure to include the description of your experience.

Out-of-Body Experiences

Science Journal, August 24, 2007, reports on the work of several neuro- scientists, who have been able under laboratory conditions to induce the sensation in individuals of being apart from or out of their bodies.

But, is what was induced really an out-of-body experience?

According to Matthew Botvinick, assistant professor of neuroscience at Princeton University, who was not part of the experiments, “the sense of having a body, of being in a bodily self” is actually constructed from multiple sensory streams. These sensory streams include vision, touch, balance, and the sense of where one’s body is positioned in space. If anything happens to throw these streams off, the sense of being embodied can alter or shift.

With this as a given, two men, working separately and in different places, attempted to trick the brain of volunteers into believing their body was located somewhere else rather than where it actually was.

Henrik Ehrsson, now based at the Karolinska Institute Stockholm, Sweden, but then working at University College London, had participants wear goggles and altered images for each eye, as well as had certain touch techniques applied. The volunteers reported seeing 3-D images of their own back and feeling as if they were standing where cameras had been placed, watching a body that belonged to someone else.

Olaf Blanke of Ecole Polytechique Federale de Lausanne, Switzerland blindfolded volunteers and guided them backwards. When asked to return to their original position, the volunteers were confused and overshot the start position in the direction of where they felt their virtual body was, not their physical one.

In summary, both neuroscientists noted that confusion between the senses of each participant was the key mechanism that explains out-of-body experiences. “This is essentially a means of projecting yourself, a form of teleportation,” said Dr. Ehrsson.

And that is indeed the key mechanism – to producing a doppelganger, not what most people mean when they refer to an out-of-body experience.

Doppelganger, or double-walker, is the term used to describe the phenomenon of where individuals see a ghostly double of themselves, or feel their own counterpart at a distance from themselves. The work of these two scientists lends new credence as to how such a doppelganger could occur and, moreover, how that phenomenon, if controlled, could become an advantage with video games, military training, and surgeons performing remote operations on a patient. Their findings could also explain the partial or incomplete experiences people have of being out of their body during various types of injury, shock, or paralysis.

But their findings neither explain nor apply to the complex, clear, and fully coherent and consciously involved out-of-body experiences people often have during near-death states, intense meditation, or spiritual transformations.

A true, real out-of-body experience, especially if an aspect or component of the near-death phenomenon, typically involves extensive movement and interaction not only within the environment of the individual, but in novel, different, or far-flung environments unknown to the individual that are explored and investigated at length. When these individuals return to their bodies, they are able to recount in detail what they observed, heard, touched, sensed, smelled, and witnessed. Third-party verification of such details is commonplace.

People can be trained in how have out-of-body experiences – via certain relaxation and visualization techniques, along with the discipline of intent. Such training sessions emphasize cross-checking whatever was experienced or witnessed to make certain of accuracy, as well as third-party verification.

True out-of-body experiences do not match the results of the experiments conducted by the two neuroscientists reported on in Science Journal. What they did find, though, is quite intriguing and may indeed explain the phenomenon of the double-walker counterpart people have claimed that they had - since the earliest of times.

###

P. M. H. Atwater, L.H.D. is one of the original researchers in the field of near-death studies, having begun her work in 1978. Her latest book, “The Big Book of Near-Death Experiences,” due out this October, was featured in the online version of Newsweek Magazine’s article “Back from the Dead.” Ref: www.pmhatwater.com.